


Every Dog Has His Day

by strictlybecca



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Birthday, Dog(s), Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-30
Updated: 2011-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-28 11:59:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/307648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strictlybecca/pseuds/strictlybecca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The list, Danny thinks, is only sensible. Otherwise he has no written proof or guarantee that Steve will not show up on his daughter’s birthday in a pink camo-colored tank or something equally ridiculous and utterly Steve-like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every Dog Has His Day

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place during the episode when Steve and Danny try co-owning a dog. I really only know the episodes by their mcdanno-events, so yeah. Whichever one that one was. Un-beta'd.
> 
> For Alexis' birthday. Thanks for being my soulmate bb!

The list, Danny thinks, is only sensible. Otherwise he has no written proof or guarantee that Steve will not show up on his daughter’s birthday in a pink camo-colored tank or something equally ridiculous and utterly Steve-like. The list only makes sense and that’s why Danny writes it out, types it up, prints it out and posts copies of it all over Steve’s office and home. (And if he takes a little gleeful pride in the fact that he’s managed to literally plaster Steve’s bathroom with them, well, no one has to know.)

Steve does not like the list. Danny’s hovering somewhere between ‘not giving a fuck’ and ’self-satisfied smugness.’ Steve does not like the list for several reasons that he recites out to Danny while driving like a maniac down Kamehameha Highway after an interview with a sailor at Pearl Harbor goes less than terrifically. Danny proceeds to ignore all of these complaints, knowing as he does (because yes Steven, he just _knows_ these things) that Steve ignored him the second Danny started outlining The List.

In Steve’s opinion, the list is just another opportunity for Danny to display the kind of tyrannical dictatorship he has over Steve’s life right now. (Considering the dog – still unnamed because Steve refuses to let Danny name the dog in his vicinity and Danny is very rarely out of Steve’s presence – only _just_ gave up his shotgun seat in order to hang out at headquarters with Chin and Kono til the case is done, Steve’s feeling mighty oppressed at the moment.)

Which is so funny that Danny almost forgets to laugh.

The List begins,

 _1\. You are not to buy Grace a pony._

“I’m not an idiot Danny,” Steve says through gritted teeth. “I wouldn’t buy Grace a pony. Where would she put it?” But even as he says the words, Danny can see the little gears grinding and the little hamster wheels spinning behind that furrowed brow of Steve’s and proceeds to thwack him on the head firmly with a rolled up manila folder that happens to be filled with extra copies of The List.

“Hah! There! Right there! You were trying to figure out where a pony could go! Do you see why this list is so necessary Steven?” Steve bats away Danny’s flailing hands armed with the folder and scowls more deeply.

“I wasn’t,” he begins, but Danny doesn’t give him a chance.

“Do you know what a pony requires Steven? Do you? I do, because some idiot, otherwise known as my ex-wife’s new husband, has given Grace a high speed internet connection upon which she has spent the last two months researching exactly what a pony needs to survive and trust me, that list has been laid out on my kitchen table more times than I’d like to count-” here, Steve pointedly glances to the folder in Danny’s hand and Danny graciously ignores him, “-and let me tell you, that list is not a short one, no, no, it is not nice and succinct like this List I have created for you here, no my friend, this list is about three pages long and contains such things like a place for this non-existent pony to go to the bathroom and also a place to _put_ the results of the aforementioned pony bathroom trips.”

Steve mouths the word _aforementioned_ with a furrowed brow and Danny hits him with the folder again.

When it becomes clear to Danny that Steve has no intention of buying Grace a pony – and though he is sure this has more to do with Steve having no idea where to purchase a pony than anything Danny’s said in the last two minutes, he will graciously take what he can get – he decides to move on to the next number on The List.

 _2\. Under no circumstances are you to give Grace a weapon, or weapons, or ammo or fire or anything that explodes and/or really anything that could be interpreted as a weapon or be made to produce fire or explosions._

Steve gives him such an outraged look that Danny feels bad for a split second before holding up a hand.

“My car Steven,” Danny begins, “Grenades in _my car_. Grenades in _the glove compartment_ of my car.”

Steve has apologized already for this, though he swore he never did it when he knew Gracie was going to be in the car, which is why Danny feels bad for another split second before remembering that now Steve simply carries them in his pockets and Danny’s life is still in peril constantly. He rolls his eyes and moves on.

 _3\. Grace is to receive nothing that that travels at high speeds._

Steve blinks at this one. “Like… a car?” he guesses, not sure where Danny is going with this one.

“Like a tank, like a boat, like a – _yes_ , Steven – like a car, like a motorcycle, like a jetpack, like a high powered golf cart, like a horse and buggy-”

“How fast do you think a horse and buggy could actually go?” Steve interrupts, sounding more curious than anything. Danny ignores him and continues as if there had been no interruptions.

“Like a train, like a humvee, like a jet ski, like a four wheeler, like rollerskates with rockets on them, like-”

“All right Danny, I get the point,” Steve interrrupts again, this time holding a hand out to the side as if to physically dam up the words Danny is perpetually flooding his side of the car with. “Nothing that can move Grace faster than ten miles her hour, gotcha.” Danny eyes him suspiciously for a moment – mostly because Steve looks entirely unconcerned by this new mandate and when Steve looks unconcerned about things Danny generally gets very concerned.

“Well, all right then,” Danny says sullenly, moving on to his next and final point.

 _4\. You are not to spend exorbitant amounts of money on Grace’s present._

Steve groans. “Danny,” he says, taking his eyes off the road to glare at Danny for a long second before glancing back. “Danny, that’s not fair. I wanna get her whatever I wanna get her, whatever it costs okay?”

“No Steven, _not_ okay! If I know you, and trust me, I know you very well by now my friend –” Steve snorts here, his smile more affectionate than anything, because _yeah_ , it was kind of the truth, “- I know you are going to go out of your way to buy my child something insane and ridiculous and hugely expensive and unnecessary to her well-being but possibly not her happiness and it is going to make your wallet cry and you are going to order pizza for the next month in order to make sure you stay fed and I just want to let you know that I am not going to let that happen.”

“Danno,” Steve says, quirking his lips into that stupid crooked smile, his voice dropping an octave and several units of volume until his tone was soft and genuine. “I love Gracie and I want to get her a really cool birthday present, okay? I’m only allowed to do this twice a year, just let me do this.”

Danny refuses to inspect the squirming, twisting feeling in his stomach when Steve talks about how much he adores Grace because squirmy-twisty feelings are feelings he doesn't have time for, certainly not in reference to the dork shaped creature he calls his best friend and partner.

“Maybe,” Danny allows a second later, grunting out his reply. Steve’s beam in response sends his stomach squirming again and he only just barely refrains from thumping himself on the chest in hopes that it would go away.

-

The day of Gracie’s birthday dawns bright and perfect and if Steve has to guess, it’s clearly due to the will power of one Danny Williams who would have probably shouted the sky to pieces had it even dared consider raining on his little girl’s day.

Steve’s present is somehow wrangled into his car, the difficulty due to its size and weight and Steve’s inability to decide whether he wanted to somehow hide it or just slap a big bow on it and call it done.

He takes the bow shaped high road (though he struggles for a moment before he tells himself to think of it like lacing up a boot) and heads to Stan’s disgustingly beautiful home where there is what looks like a legitimate carnival set up in the front drive, leading to the backyard. It looks like absolute madness, children running everywhere as parents sip sodas and beers and try not to get talked into what looks like a dunk booth.

Steve slides out of his truck, unsure if his aim should be Grace or Danny, when he catches his eye on a half soaked Danny Williams striding towards him, wet hair slicked back but still determinedly curling, towel slung over the shoulders of his t-shirt still soaked through in places and jeans clinging a little inappropriately. Not that Steve is going to say anything.

“Look whose finally arrived,” Danny calls, grinning. “Finally you Neanderthal, I thought I was going to have to make small talk for the rest of eternity.”

Steve snorts. “You look like you were doing a little more than small talk.” He lets the direction of his gaze do the talking and Danny puffs up proudly.

“Grace talked me into the dunk tank thing and dunks me in one try! I need to put that girl in softball or something, she has got a killer arm,” he says with the smug pride that only a father can have after getting soaked by his daughter. “Ah, speak of the Monkey herself,” Danny says as Grace bounds up, arms plastered in stickers and what looks like face-paint, four balloons attached to her wrist and a smile stretching from ear to ear.

“Uncle Steve!” she all but yells and throws herself at him. Steve catches her with relative ease and hitches her up on his hip like he’s seen Danny do a hundred times before.

“Hey Grace, happy birthday! You having fun?”

“So much!” Grace says, beaming. “I dunked Danno and won a ton of prizes and there’s a gift table bigger than your truck and Mom says it’s all for me and all my friends from school came and there’s this really cool game where you can win goldfish and I’ve already won seven and then I had to stop because Mom said we didn’t need another aquarium but they’re not that big but it’s okay because there’s a ton of other games we can play and you can help me win, right Uncle Steve?”

“Right,” Steve affirms in the brief lull of Grace’s excited babbling, reminding Steve more and more of her father with every dramatic hand gesture.

“All right Monkey, let’s try breathing between words huh?  Let’s get Steve a drink first before you start conning him into winning you a stuffed menagerie, okay?” Grace beams and nods but Steve considers for a second before shaking his head.

“Actually Gracie, do you mind if I give you my present now? It’s kind of big and I’d like to just do it with you, me and your dad, if that’s okay?” Grace immediately nods, clearly having been ready for presents since she woke this morning.

“You sure about that Steve?” Danny asks, raising an eyebrow and Steve just smiles and heads to the opposite door of his truck, opening it and tugging something out. Out hops the dog Danny fell in love with a week ago, the dog that Kono promised to take care of for a few weeks while Danny tried to wear Rachel down into taking it in or if that didn’t work, while Danny found him a good home somewhere on the island. Danny was clearly heartbroken by the mere prospect, but he knew there was no way he could keep a dog of that size in his postage stamp apartment.

Gracie lets out an ecstatic screech before bounding forward and immediately cuddling against the dog, who huffs out a pleased sound at the sudden attention.

“The dog?” Danny asks, incredulous. “The dog’s your gift?”

“Well, I figure that since we can’t keep him at your dad or your mom’s house, I could hold on to him for you Grace,” Steve says, crouching down to his knees to get to Grace and the puppy’s level. Grace stares up at Steve adoringly from her place beside her new dog, nodding fervently. “And you and your dad come over most weekends anyway so you guys can hang out then, and I can even bring him over to your mom’s house some afternoons if she says that’s okay, so he can run around in your big yard and terrorize Mr. Hoppy.” Grace giggles at this before flinging her arms around Steve’s neck and hugging him close.

“Thank you Steve! Thank you so so so much, I’ve always wanted a dog and Mommy said we didn’t have time to take care of one and Danno’s place says he can’t have one and I’ve always, always wanted one and thank you!” Steve hugs her back gently, smiling widely and trying not to look like the utter sap he feels like. Finally daring a glance up at Danny, Steve finds himself blushing as Danny watches him consideringly – maybe seeing more than Steve wanted him to, but there’s no hope for it now.

“Now all that’s left is naming him,” Steve says with a grin and Gracie’s eyes widen to an improbable size.

“You mean he doesn’t have a name yet?” Gracie gasps, hands automatically burying themselves in the dog’s fur, scratching expertly at what were clearly favorite spots for the pushy beast.

“Not yet,” Steve says, shaking his head and beaming up at Danny, who is watching this whole thing with something like affection and worry. Steve is hoping the worry is because Grace is not known for her stunning naming skills (Mr. Hoppy anyone?) and not because Steve has not-so-subtly wormed himself into the Williams family’s life for the next ten years at least. “What d’you think?”

Grace furrows her brow and buries her face against the dog’s thick mane of fur. He patiently settles in and pants happily as Grace communes with his floppy ears before raising her head and beaming. “Springsteen.”

The choked noise Steve and Danny both make can be heard from a mile away, but it is soon drowned out by Grace’s pleased squeals as her father scoops her up and spins her, both of them laughing. “You are the coolest daughter in the entire world,” Danny says firmly, still laughing as he lays a smacking kiss to her forehead. Steve’s face, which had run the gamut from _no way_ to _oh dear lord_ is now somewhere around _well shit, all right,_  the sight of Danny with his daughter doing him in.

“My daughter is cooler than you,” Danny says proudly in Steve’s direction as he sets her down again next to Springsteen, who seems pleased with his new name. “She is so cool, in fact, that she named her new dog after The Boss and there are no takesies backsies-”

“I’m not twelve Danno,” Steve complains, but he’s grinning at Danny’s infectious cheer.

“And so The Boss he shall forever be, making him the second coolest individual here, after my daughter,” Danny finishes with a flourish, burying his hand in Grace’s hair as she happily scritches behind Springsteen’s ears.

“C’mon Monkey, let’s go show your mom Steve’s awesome present,” Danny says and Grace breaks into a sprint, Springsteen galloping happily beside her, leaving Steve to stare up at Danny from his crouched position and leaving Danny to gaze wonderingly down at Steve, eyes shaded from the sun.

“So, a dog,” Danny says, for once not taking up all the available oxygen with superfluous words.

“A dog,” Steve agrees and dusts his hands off on his pants and stands swiftly. He folds his arms uncomfortably across his chest, his eyes flickering from his feet to Danny’s face.

“You’re not subtle McGarrett,” Danny says finally and Steve’s sure he looks stricken for a moment before he manages to sooth away the expression and stare coolly back.

“I’m not? Well if you’re the expert Danno-” And what he’s not expecting is for Danny to twist a hand in his worn t-shirt and haul him down for a brief but thorough kiss, leaving him speechless and breathless and frozen in a half hunched position, Danny smirking up at him.

“Never said I was Steven. Now c’mon, it’s my baby girl’s birthday and you just got her the best gift of her life – we’ll talk later about your reward, but for now, it’s time to go wallow in Rachel and Stan’s expressions as she completely ignores her new playhouse for our dog.” He tugs Steve along by the hem of his shirt and Steve follows willingly, mouthing wordlessly for a moment before he finally finds his voice long enough to say,

“Our dog?” Danny casts a smirk over his shoulder and Steve finds himself stumbling closer until he can feel the heat from Danny’s slightly sunburned skin through his well-worn shirt.

“Yeah McGarrett, our dog.”


End file.
